1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for assisting the elderly, arthritic, handicapped, disabled or those with impaired manual dexterity with daily chores. More particularly, this invention relates to an assist for manually opening sliding windows and doors with less physical force.
2. Description of Related Art
As the population ages and people live longer lives, some of the common chores we take for granted may be difficult for seniors, those with muscular deficiencies and/or other handicaps or disabilities, to perform. For example, the mere exertion of a wrist turn to open a jar or bottle, many have no difficulties performing. But there is a growing market for providing “assists” to those needing a little extra help with day-to-day activities.
A representative example of such assisting means can be seen in Bergeron U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,752. There, a drinking container was disclosed which requires a reduced degree of tilt for assisting the disabled in drinking fluids from same.
In Phillips U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,797, an interesting mechanism is shown for assisting the handicapped in raising and/or lowering their own toilet seat.
When visiting an older relative, it was observed the difficulties she was having in opening a standard sliding window in her apartment. Regardless of wind conditions and/or pressure differences between the in and outdoors, a lot of exertion was needed for leveraging the window to open same. Most windows and sliding doors that seal create an air lock that must be “broken” before the mechanism (window or door) can be easily moved about. It was observed that she had much less difficulty closing that window once opened. At one of the windows in her same apartment, a long monkey wrench was seen nearby as an awkward, potentially dangerous device for assisting her window opening efforts. The wrench was heavy, awkward to manipulate and raised the possibility of doing substantial damage to the frame surrounding the window proper.
A genuine need exists for a manual assist that would allow seniors, the disabled and those with reduced hand or arm strength for any reason to more effectively open their own sliding doors and windows, i.e. structural mechanisms that slide back and forth, typically in a horizontal or vertical plane, in their own, pre-assigned sliding tracks. With this invention, a device that is both aesthetically pleasing and strong assists the less fortunate with respect to this one daily chore. And with a proper fulcrum configuration, the elongated, contoured handle of this invention can swivel back and forth about its securing base that preferably includes a thick felt or other non-marking bottom portion so as to reduce the likelihood of damage to window and/or door frame surrounds.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be obvious to those of skill in the art. It should be noted, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the instant invention, for which reference should be made to the claims appended hereto.